Bulletin board



Aug. 7, 1956 KNUDSEN 2,757,469

BULLETIN BOARD Filed Feb. 16, 1952 ,Jf. gNVENTOR United States Patent BULLETIN BOARD Earl Knudsen, Pittsburgh, Pa., assignor to Modern Display Co., Inc., Pittsburgh, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Application February 16, 1952, Serial N 0. 271,929 1 Claim. (Cl. 40-425) This invention relates to bulletin boards. More particularly the invention relates to bulletin boards that are reversible that can be nailed or screwed to a wall or hung from a wire or supported as an easel.

One of the best types of bulletin boards now in use consists of a Wooden molding frame having a wooden board backing fixed in the frame. Sheets of cork are attached to the wooden backing which are arranged to receive tacks by which the bulletins, drawings or the like may be attached to the board. Such a bulletin board is quite heavy, requiring a fastening device at each corner for attaching it to a wall, and is used only with the cork face outward.

Another type of bulletin board consists of the well known drawing board which is secured to a wall. The drawing board is made of pine lumber which is slightly less than 1" in thickness, the texture of the pine being soft enough to easily receive tacks. Soft pine lumber with a good grain texture is scarce and expensive. The pine board must be made up of a large number of pieces which are glued together with tongue and groove joints and the ends of the pieces are morticed into strips arranged at right angles to the grain of the pieces to hold the board from warping. Large size boards of this type are very expensive, very heavy, and have to be securely anchored on a wall.

The primary object of the present invention is to provide a fibre composition board with a thin flat metal frame with the frame corners held by clips which reinforce the frame and provide openings for hanging or supporting the board with an easel.

Another object of the invention is to provide a board of light weight material with a metal binding frame which will strengthen the board and permit boards to be placed side by side to produce a larger sized board wherein the frame will not interfere with the proper mounting of bulletins or drawings on the larger board.

Another object of the invention is to provide a corner clip for holding a thin metal molding on the edges of a bulletin board which is effective in holding the frame in position, will cover the corner joints and is fastened to the board to give metal reinforced openings to be used for supporting, hanging or attaching the board in a position where it is to be used.

A further object of the invention is to provide a frame for a bulletin board which will act as a binding for a light weight readily breakable material to produce a strong rigid board.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a frame for a bulletin board which will embrace the edges of the board and give the frame an appearance which is the same on both sides of the board.

With these and other objects in view, the invention consists of the metal framed light weight bulletin board as hereinafter described and particularly defined in the claims.

The various features of the invention are illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a view in front elevation of the preferred l the metal bears against the face of the make a tight connection therewith.

joints, and these in which it would be attached to a wall;

Figure 2 is a side view of the bulletin board illustrated in the manner inwhich it would be supported as an easel; Figure 3 is a detail side view illustrating the corner clip shape and mounting for holding the frame in position on the board;

Figure 4 is a sectional view taken on the line IV-IV of Figure 3 illustrating the details of the metal frame of the bulletin board; and

Figure 5 is a detail view showing a button which may be used for mounting a wire in a bulletin board to hang it.

The front elevation illustrated in Figure 1 shows the preferred form of the invention arranged .in an upright position in which it would be attached to a fiat wall.

The board consists of a rectangular board 10 made of a fiber composition which has a substantially uniform structure throughout. This type of board is composed of long fiber sugar cane and formed under compression. For the usual type of bulletin board a sheet which is /z" thick is very suitable for practically every size of board. The board is mounted in a metallic frame 12 which consists of a channel having flanges 14 and 16 connected by means of a web 18. The flanges 14 and 16 closely bear against the face of the board at each side and the web 18 bears against the edge of the board all the way around the board. The inner edge 20 of each channel flange is formed with a rib so that the edge of fiber board to As illustrated in the drawings, one or more ribs 22 are formed on the flanges which reinforce and strengthenthe channel and give a decorative appearance.

The frame channel is fitted on the board with miter joints are covered with clips 24, one clip being positioned at each corner. The clip forms an important feature of the invention in that a comple mentary bead 26 is formed on the face side of the frame, this head fitting into the corresponding head in the face of the flanges 14 and 16 of the channel. The inner end 28 of the clips are offset to pass around the flanges 14 and 16 and rest flatly against the face of the board. A reinforcing rib 30 is formed in the center of the end of the clip and has an opening .32 arranged to receive an eyelet tube 34, the tube passing from one end 28 of the clip through the board and through the end 28 of the clip on the opposite side of the board. The tube is then knurled to form the fastening tube 34. The fastening eyelet tubes have an important function in the present invention in that they provide a metal reinforced opening through the board by which screws or nails may be used for fastening the board to a wall or other structure. It will be noted furthermore, that the position of the eyelet is spaced from 1" to 1 /2 from each edge of the board to leave a substantial body of board outside of the hole for the eyelet so that the placing of the eyelet through the board will not break away the material between the eyelet and the edge of the board. The clip 24 has a U-shape with a comparatively flat back 38, and flanges 40 project outwardly from each side of the back and are bent downwardly so that the flanges 40 press against the Webs 18 of the frame channels at each side of the corner. This construction acts to securely hold the frame channels in position. Furthermore, the legs of the U-shaped clip cover the miter joint of the frame so that great care in forming the miter joints does not need to be exercised. Furthermore, the frame is held in very secure position by the clips, irrespective of the closeness of the fit of the miter joints.

The fiber boards have some rigidity but are compara of the clip at each tively soft and easily broken. The channel-like members of the frame embrace the free edges of the board and protect it against destruction or breaking, and when the frame is. held in position by a clip .in each corner, the entire board is re nforced and made very rigid and strong. The channel flanges, varying in widths for a /2" thickness of fiber board, from /a to 1" in width, and this provides a laminated built-up structure which is strong.

It may be important in some locations to hang the bulletin board from a wire rather than to'try to screw or nail it to a wall. With the present constructions this may be readily accomplished by placing a button 42 (Fig. 5) having a shank arranged to receive a curtain wire 44 through the eyelet openings 34 at each side of the top or a side of the bo r and adju t ng he wire connectin the boards to the desired length in order to position the bulletin board at the proper height.

Referring to Figure 2,, the improved bulletin board may be used as an easel, To accomplish this, supporting standards 46 may be mounted at opposite sides of the board with a fastening pin 48 at the top and at the bottom passing through the eyelet tubes 34 at the top and the bottom of the board.

The present bulletin board may be made in standard sizes such as 18 x 24 or 24 x 36 inches, and used in standard units to build up a bulletin board of any desired size by grouping boards of the same size or different sizes together. The metal frame around the edge of the board is comparatively thin so that when the boards are assembled to make a large board, bulletins or drawings may be mounted over the molding without interfering with the ready exhibition of the drawing or bulletin which is attached to the board. The thin metal frame furthermore with the eyelet openings allow it to be attache v very close to a Wall and thus facilitate the use of the board in many locations.

The bulletin board is substantially the same on each side, so that it is reversible. Bulletin or drawings may be attached to each side, and the'board reversed, particularly if it is suspended by a wire, by merely turning it over. Furthermore, the easel-supporting frame maybe readily removed from eyelet openings and changed from one side of the board to the other, so that bulletins on both sides of the board may be used one after another. With this arrangement the bulletins may be attached to the opposite sides of the board and thus give a large bulletin space with a comparatively small board.

With oblong bulletin boards, they may be hung or grouped with the short or long edge down, and use the corner clips for this purpose. The eyelets in the corner clips are very useful for this purpose, but solid rivets may be used in the corner clips to hold the clips and frame in position. Further, solid rivets and eyelets may be used to attach hangers at the corner or other devices for attaching the bulletin board to the wall, such-as suction cups.

The various features of the invention having been thus described, what is claimed as new is:

A bulletin board comprising a bulletin receiving body portion of substantially uniform structure throughout, a substantially U-shaped framing member enclosing each marginal edge and the adjacent opposite marginal faces of the body portion, a substantially U-shaped clip at each corner of the board overlapping the adjacent edges of the framing members and the body portion inwardly of the framing members, flange portions on each corner clip overlapping the adjacent outer faces of the framing members retaining them in assembled relation, said corner clip portions being provided with apertures, and means connecting the overlapped portions of the body and corner clip and passing through said apertures in the corner clip portions and the board for providing a unitary assembly of body portion, framing members and clips.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

